Page 7 of Bobby

“Yes, sir, but if I leave now, I can take the subway, then a bus, and walk the rest of the way.”

He leans back in his chair and squints. “Where does your babysitter live?”

“Brooklyn.”

He pulls his phone from his pocket and takes a moment before setting it down on the table and pulling the Chandler file back into his hands.

“I’ll have a car take you. Now, can you review this with me?”

“Sir?”

He looks up and his dark eyes bore into me, holding my attention. “I promise you’ll make it there by five.” The way he says it, it’s less like a promise and more like a certainty.

Something in his words, his focus on me, his determination—all of it. I believe him. There’s something captivating about him that at first I found intimidating. Now I see it and respect him for it.

With a nod, I lean closer and point to the first inconsistency.

I ignore the buzzing of Mr. Leone’s phone, but he doesn’t. He looks at the screen once before standing and going over to his desk to pull on his jacket, all without breaking stride with his words.

“Based on your analysis, you’ve concluded that while the files go back ten years, issues didn’t occur until five years ago?”

“That’s correct. Small inconsistencies before that, but those are in the base average for being normal human error. What I found seems to have started small but grew over time, as noted earlier when we went over the files.”

I expected Mr. Leone to be smart—you don’t run a company based on good looks, which he definitely has—but I was in awe of how quickly he grasped the knowledge in full and understood it completely. My own boss, who’s meant to understand these data points better than most, since he’s in charge of the sector, fails at this. Meaning he should have worked from the ground up. The Leone business is very well known for promoting within and not hiring outside management unless all other options are exhausted to find the best candidate for the position.

“Right. We can finish this in the car.” He closes my laptop and picks up the files we were looking over.

“Sir?” I swivel in my chair as he walks around me.

“I’m a man who keeps appointments, and I make sure those who have them keep them as well. Plus, my mother would never forgive me if she found out I made a mother late picking up her kids, especially after working on a Saturday.”

How bad of a mother does it make me look that it takes more time than it should for his words to sink in and remind me I have to get home? Bad, right?

“Right. Of course. Thank you for remembering.”

I grab my small tote purse and move to step in line with Mr. Leone. I instinctively hold out my hands for the documents, but he just opens the door for me and gestures for me to go out first.

We walk to the elevator and down to the lobby. I go to sign out, but a hand on my back keeps me moving toward the exit.

“Marco already took care of that for us,” he says as if that makes sense to anyone who knows who Marco is.

“And Marco is who?” I look at the security guard manning the desk who’d risen when we exited the elevator. His name tag clearly says Jimmy, so it wasn’t him.

Mr. Leone holds the next door for me as he gestures with his chin to the waiting car parked in front of the building. His friend from earlier is holding the door open for us.

“Marco, my second.”

Second to what? is on the tip of my tongue, but I don’t ask. I give a grateful smile to the man and enter the back seat. I scoot far over to allow Mr. Leone to take up the other side of the seat.

“Vinny called. He asks that you stop by to discuss a matter.”

Bobby just nods at the man before he turns to me. “What’s the address?” he asks as he finally gives me my laptop but keeps the papers to himself.

I put the computer in my bag as I rattle off the address. I don’t fear him knowing where I live—I’m no one special, and he has better things to do than focus on me as anything but a worker. He also has a very respectable reputation. He’s focused on work and nothing else.

“15th Street between Bedford and Nostrand. Pink building. Can’t miss it.”

“Marco” is all he says to the other man, who climbed into the driver’s seat after closing us in.